The Idaho State Board of Education voted to increase in-state tuition by 5 percent and the out-of-state by 8 percent for University of Idaho students at its last mid-April meeting.
Trina Mahoney, the University of Idaho budget director, said this means the in-state tuition will go up by $376 a year and out-of-state will go up an additional $1,312 a year.
Tuition for in-state students will now total $7,864 a year and out-of-state will be $25,500 a year, Mahoney said.
“In both cases, we’re trying to balance the revenue we need to run the university and then access for students. But, as a state institution, I personally feel access for Idaho students is critical,” Mahoney said.
On the UI financial aid website, out-of-state or non-Idaho resident students paid the in-state student tuition and fees price and an additional $16,324 during the 2017-2018 school year.
This extra money is what Mahoney called an out-of-state premium and will go up by the $1,312 a year.
Out-of-state students will pay $1,688 more a year starting in the 2018-2019 school year.
The difference in prices is based on the fact the university wants to keep tuition at UI affordable for Idaho students. Out-of-state tuition is based on the market and what other universities in the area are charging, Mahoney said.
“For nonresidents, we start looking at what other institutions are charging, what students might be paying in their home state for their in-state versus our out-of-state, so it’s a little more market-driven than in state,” Mahoney said.
Since the university did not get the 6 percent increase they asked the State Board for, Mahoney said the university can not fund everything it had planned.
The tuition increase will go toward change in employee compensation (CEC) which will take a proposed $1.3 million for the entire university, Mahoney said.
“So basically (CEC) is salary increases. The state approved a 3 percent pool which means that, on average, we’re targeting people receive a 3 percent raise across campus. That doesn’t mean any one individual will receive 3 percent, say a faculty member who is above their market rate may not get anything and someone else might get a much larger increase, but on average we’re aiming for about 3 percent,” Mahoney said.
CEC is set by the state. This year it has been set at a 3 percent average, meaning not everyone will get the 3 percent raise Mahoney said.
Mahoney said the state raises the CEC every year, so the tuition is also raised every year. The percentage is different every year depending on how much it is raised.
The state pays for 60 percent of the increase and it is up to the institution to come up with the other 40 percent.
Mahoney said the university also plans to use the tuition money on promotional projects and paying contracts the university has, such as utilities.
Out of the $376 per year students pay, $41.92 will go to the student activity fee and $334.08 will go to the university.
The student activity fee is decided on by a group of undergraduate and graduate students and is headed by the ASUI president.
ASUI President McKenzie MacDonald said the increase in the activity fee is going toward organizations supporting students.
The student activity fee is broken down by how much each department gets from the students which goes toward their funding.
The student activity fee for the 2018- 2019 school year is $564.27 which is a $41 increase from the previous school year.
MacDonald said $9.54 of every student’s activity fee will go toward CEC because the committee decided they would fund all CEC requests at least.
The money full-time students pay is broken up by the amount in dollars each individual student will pay.
The biggest increase goes to Campus Recreation and is for general maintenance and upkeep of equipment, MacDonald said this fee increase would also help pay some of the students who work there.
“As far as tuition, its going towards maintenance to help the University of Idaho keep up the good work it does,” MacDonald said.
Kali Nelson can be reached at [email protected]